The roar of battle echoed continuously across the arena.
Blazing red flames clashed against blinding yellow bolts of lightning. The collision of energies rippled through the air, creating waves of distortion.
Each time their fists met, the impact thundered like an explosion, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
In terms of sheer momentum, Incineroar held a slight edge over Electivire.
While neither Pokémon had a clear type advantage and their overall stats were relatively close, Incineroar's Ability gave it a noticeable edge.
Both trainers came from prestigious families, and naturally, their main Pokémon possessed Hidden Abilities.
Normally, Incineroar's standard Ability is Blaze, while its Hidden Ability is Intimidate—lowering the opponent's Attack when entering battle.
Electivire's usual Ability is Motor Drive (which raises Speed when hit by Electric-type moves), while its Hidden Ability is Vital Spirit (preventing it from falling asleep).
In a close-quarters clash of Fire Punch and Thunder Punch, the Attack drop from Intimidate gave Incineroar the upper hand.
"Brick Break!" shouted Haruhira with a snort, quickly adapting his strategy.
It was a solid response.
As a Pokémon with the Dark type, Incineroar is weak to Fighting-type moves—making Brick Break a smart choice at this range.
As for why Haruhira had used Thunder Punch first?
Most likely, just to trade blows head-on with Yezo. That was very much his style.
"Use Scary Face!" Yezo commanded, his tone calm and precise.
It might sound unbelievable, but despite being almost the same height, Electivire was over 50% heavier than Incineroar.
That's just a biological fact based on their average species data:
Both around 1.8 meters tall, but Incineroar weighs about 83 kg, while Electivire weighs 138 kg.
Even though these two Pokémon were obviously above average size, the proportions stayed roughly the same.
At roughly 2 meters tall each, Electivire's body was much bulkier than Incineroar's—just looking at them side by side, you could tell the weight difference immediately.
That didn't mean Electivire was sluggish, though.
Its reaction speed and straight-line dash were impressive, but in terms of agility and lateral movement, it couldn't quite keep up with Incineroar.
With its menacing glare, Incineroar activated Scary Face, further lowering Electivire's Speed—its attack aura visibly weakening as the white glow around its fists faded.
"Two reckless brawlers," Silas muttered dryly from the stands.
In his eyes, that earlier clash of Fire Punch and Thunder Punch was meaningless.
If they really wanted to gauge each other's power, Flamethrower and Thunderbolt would've been far more telling.
"Haruhira's being a bit too impulsive," commented Jun.
Scary Face not only intimidated Electivire into hesitating but also sharply reduced its Speed—a serious disadvantage in this fight.
On the field, Electivire was clearly being pushed back.
Under Incineroar's relentless assault, its stamina and rhythm visibly deteriorated.
Fortunately, its natural toughness and mono-Electric typing meant that only Ground-type attacks could deal super-effective damage. Most of Incineroar's moves dealt only normal damage—otherwise, Electivire would've gone down much faster.
Still, the one-sided pummeling didn't last long.
Soon, the spectators noticed that Electivire seemed to be regaining ground against Incineroar.
"Wait—he's using Stomping Tantrum like that?" Silas raised an eyebrow in surprise.
At first, he didn't understand what was happening.
But after observing closely, he noticed cracks forming on the ground with every step Electivire took backward.
It was indeed Stomping Tantrum, a Ground-type move—but used in a unique way.
Normally, Pokémon have to raise their leg high and slam it down to trigger the move's effect.
But Haruhira's Electivire had clearly mastered an altered version.
"He's using the momentum from Incineroar's hits to amplify the shockwave, minimizing damage while maximizing the secondary Speed-lowering effect," Jun analyzed, eyes lighting up.
Easier said than done.
Altering a move's mechanics like that wasn't simple—it must have taken Haruhira and Electivire countless hours of training.
"Now their Speeds are equal again… no, wait—Incineroar's even slower," Silas observed keenly.
A perfect match between two equally fierce Pokémon and their equally fierce trainers—this was the kind of battle that truly thrilled him.
The crowd erupted as the two heavyweights continued to trade blow after blow.
In the end, the result wasn't surprising: Incineroar narrowly defeated Electivire, claiming the first win of the match.
However, when Haruhira sent out his second Pokémon—Sceptile, a Quasi-Elite-level powerhouse—Incineroar was quickly overwhelmed.
Having given everything against Electivire, Incineroar was too exhausted to continue.
Yezo gently recalled it and sent out his final Quasi-level Pokémon—Bisharp.
Unlike Silas's earlier matches, both Yezo and Haruhira clearly intended to decide the match right from the start using their strongest Pokémon.
With its Dark/Steel typing, Bisharp had a slight advantage in defense, resisting Grass-type moves fairly well.
However, its double weakness to Fighting-type attacks was a fatal flaw and Sceptile, though a Grass-type, could indeed learn several powerful Fighting-type moves.
Both Pokémon were fast and agile—one specialized in offense, the other in defense.
Silas was eager to see what kind of battle they'd deliver.
And so were the spectators.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Yezo and Haruhira's second battle began.
"Don't be discouraged. It was a close match—you'll get him next time," Silas and Jun both comforted Haruhira, who was drowning his frustration in food.
"Hah! Next time, I'll still win. No big deal~" Yezo teased, that smug grin on his face.
The two of them rolled their eyes in perfect unison. Typical Yezo.
"Tch. You just got lucky," Haruhira muttered through a mouthful of food, glaring bitterly at his rival.
He wasn't wrong—if they fought again, the result could easily go either way.
Yezo's victory ultimately came down to a critical hit from Bisharp's finishing move.
Silas couldn't help but think Yezo was burning through his luck or perhaps even his life span—with how often he landed those critical hits.
Sceptile's loss was completely understandable under those odds.
Though Sceptile had dealt heavy damage to Bisharp—so much that the latter only managed to defeat one more Advance-level opponent before collapsing—the difference was enough to decide the outcome.
With "luck" on his side, Yezo advanced smoothly into the Top 32.
"Just you watch—I won't stop at Top 32. I'll make it to Top 16, Top 8, Top 4~!" Yezo declared grandly.
The others didn't even respond this time. Hopeless.
"If you make Top 16, I'll chop my head off and let you use it as a ping-pong ball," Haruhira snorted.
Of course, Yezo brushed it off as the whining of a sore loser.
After their meal, the four returned to their rooms—each with their own preparations to handle.
April 10th, morning. Service Hall, Draw Pool.
After completing the Top 32 to Top 16 draw, Silas and Yezo walked out together, meeting up with Haruhira and Jun.
"How'd it go?" they both asked in unison.
"I'm fine. Not the best, not the worst — still have a shot." Silas shrugged, then pointed at Yezo beside him, who looked utterly dejected. "But he's definitely done for."
"He got matched up against your previous-round opponent, Jun," Silas added, a teasing grin creeping across his face.
They'd all mentally prepared for the possibility of being eliminated after drawing strong opponents, so none of them got mad over Silas's teasing.
Yezo punched Silas lightly in the arm, clearly annoyed.
He'd already been depressed during the whole drawing process, and now Silas was rubbing salt in his wound.
Haruhira looked quite pleased with Yezo's bad luck, while Jun just felt sympathy.
"The odds are what they are. Even if you didn't get paired with Shizuo Shinagawa, most of the others are still stronger than you."
Obviously, Haruhira still hadn't gotten over his loss from the other day and continued looking down on Yezo.
"Ah well, what can I say? I'm one of the Top 32, so of course my opponents are all tough. Unlike some people—not naming names—who just couldn't cut it."
Yezo spread his hands in mock helplessness, firing back.
Jun, who got caught in the crossfire again, could only sigh. He'd been taking friendly fire from them all week.
"Don't worry, I'll roast him for you later," Silas said, patting Jun's shoulder comfortingly.
"Your opponent's Nina, huh?" Jun said, scrolling through the tournament's updated schedule on the official website and noticing Silas's matchup.
"Yeah. She's strong… but I've got a chance," Silas nodded.
And he had a reason for that confidence.
Nina— one of the six remaining female Trainers among the Top 32, and a Grass-type specialist.
Those last four words alone explained Silas's confidence.
After all, his ace was none other than his Blaziken, a Fire-type powerhouse.
Nina's main team was said to include five solidly Quasi–Elite-level Pokémon, ranking her around the middle among the remaining Trainers.
If not for her one-type specialization slightly holding her back, she might've ranked even higher.
Compared to Silas, whose paper stats placed him near the bottom, most spectators favored the strong female Trainer.
You could even see that from the odds posted on the tournament site.
And as a side note, Yezo proudly held the bottom spot ranked 32nd out of 32.
Yet, in his own shameless words, "That just means I have lots of room to improve!"
After chatting briefly with their friends, Silas and Yezo returned to their rooms to prepare for their upcoming matches.
Coincidentally or maybe not—Silas's match was again the first battle of the day in the Top 32-to-Top 16 round.
Silas had every reason to suspect that the League was manipulating things behind the scenes.
As for those who said, "You can't rig matchups"?
Well, whether you believed that or not… Silas certainly didn't.
Two hours of preparation passed quickly, and once again he stepped onto the main arena's command platform.
This time, however, he felt more nervous than before—because he couldn't be 100% sure of victory.
Staring at the beautiful opponent across from him, Silas suddenly smiled faintly.
Really now… who needs a guaranteed win?
That wasn't what he'd set out for in the first place.
Let's make sure I have no regrets, he told himself silently.
At the referee's signal, both Trainers sent out their Pokémon.
"Bring me victory—Blaziken!"
"Move gracefully—Leafeon!"
With twin flashes of red light, the two Pokémon appeared, facing each other across the battlefield.
Nina's expression instantly changed.
Wait—what happened to testing the waters with weaker Pokémon first?
Why was he sending out his ace Blaziken right away?!
She'd studied Silas's battle records and knew that he always kept his Blaziken for the final stages. Why was she the exception?
Leafeon, my only Advance-level Pokémon… she thought grimly.
Is he just probing me?
But Silas's calm expression told her otherwise, he wasn't "testing" anything.
"Blaziken, start off strong—Flamethrower!"
Silas didn't hesitate to go for a high-power attack.
A torrent of flames burst from Blaziken's beak, the Flamethrower attack surging across half the battlefield toward Leafeon.
"Baton Pass!" Nina shouted instantly.
But the timing was far earlier than she'd planned — completely unexpected even to her.
She had originally intended for Leafeon to at least weaken the opponent a bit before switching out, possibly even passing along a stat boost to the next Pokémon.
But facing Silas's Blaziken—his strongest Fire-type—she had no confidence that Leafeon could survive for long.
Better to switch now than to let her opponent build up Speed Boost stacks.
Her command was lightning-fast. You could tell she had trained her Leafeon thoroughly for this technique.
A red flash filled the arena—recall, release.
Leafeon vanished, replaced by a massive Pokémon.
"Grrrr—!"
Before anyone could see what it was, the Flamethrower completely engulfed it.
Through the blazing fire came a pained roar.
When the flames subsided, the Pokémon's body was revealed—charred black in several places, clearly damaged.
"Torterra, use Synthesis!"
Nina commanded, quickly calling for recovery.
..
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